The Human Toll Behind Out-of-Wedlock Births

The
numbers are staggering. Out of 120,000 live births in New York City in
2010, more than 54,000 babies were born out of wedlock. The human toll behind the numbers is
devastating. Children raised without two parents face much higher odds
in every facet of life. It’s as if they are forced to swim with one hand
tied behind their backs. Some succeed, most don’t.

Now comes the good news. Mayor Bloomberg is trying to do something about this preventable tragedy.

In a bid to further discourage teen pregnancies, City Hall is
plastering a series of provocative ads on subways and bus shelters. With
heart-rending shots of distressed children, the posters aim to shock
boys and girls into thinking about the consequences of making babies too
early in life.

“Dad, you’ll be paying to support me for the next 20 years,” large
text says next to one baby boy. A yellow slash serves as a footnote:
“Think being a teen parent won’t cost you? NY state law requires a
parent to pay child support until a child is 21.”

Another ad features a little girl who says, “Honestly Mom, chances are he won’t stay with you. What happens to me?”

It
is a bold program, in message and mere existence.Out-of-wedlock births
represent a national epidemic, and the city’s track record is worse.
Like clockwork, about 45 percent of live births in the city are born to
single mothers each year, against a national rate of 41 percent.

As
I wrote in January when I learned the ad campaign was in the works,
Bloomberg once rejected my suggestion that he tackle the problem by
saying, “You know it’s something we can’t touch,” presumably because of
the racial implications. Nationally, 73 percent of black children are
born to single mothers.

But the mayor decided he could touch the
problem, and deserves praise for leading the way. Perhaps someone
pointed out to him that being born out of wedlock is a greater handicap
for children than having too many sugary drinks or even smoking.

Children
with only one parent do worse in school, are more likely to commit
crimes and be poor. They often pass the disadvantages to another
generation by having their own children outside of marriage.

My
only quibble with the ad campaign is that it focuses on teens, despite
the fact that births by unmarried teen mothers represent only 12 percent
of the out-of-wedlock total, or about 6,600 in 2010. Most come when the
mother is between ages 20 and 29.

Yet with the posters so
visible on mass transit, and with social-media efforts to come, it will
be hard for any New Yorker to miss the message. That’s fine with Robert
Doar, the human-resources commissioner, who pushed for the campaign.

“The implications are similar in terms of the message we want to get
out,” Doar told me yesterday. “It’s focused on those who are young,
unmarried and out of work.”

Indeed, the crux of the campaign is
summed up in a poster that says, “If you finish high school, get a job
and get married before having children, you have a 98% chance of not
being in poverty.”

Not incidentally, nearly 90 percent of teen births are covered by Medicaid or other programs funded by taxpayers.

Before
it launched the ads, the city held focus groups to test the messages.
One theme that emerged was that many teens had, as Doarput it, “a
higher sense of confidence about their ability to be successful parents
than the facts justified.”

“We wanted to push back on that and expose the overconfidence,” he
said. “We want people to understand how hard and complicated it is in
the long run.”

This being a touchy-feely era, the children on
posters are a Noah’s ark of races and ethnicity. Although there is no
mention of abortion, the city, in schools, clinics and through the 311
system, offers condoms, contraceptives and morning-after pills.

The
ad campaign will cost about $350,000 and run for more than a month.
It’s probably too small for its effectiveness to be judged, so here’s
hoping Bloomberg will fund a follow-up.

One idea is to go
straight at the advantage of marriage and get churches involved. Parents
who get married are more likely to stay together than those who don’t
and, all other things being equal, that’s far better for children.

Replies

Before
it launched the ads, the city held focus groups to test the messages.
One theme that emerged was that many teens had, as Doarput it, “a
higher sense of confidence about their ability to be successful parents
than the facts justified.”

“We wanted to push back on that and expose the overconfidence,” he
said. “We want people to understand how hard and complicated it is in
the long run.”